EFC is a term that you are going to see a lot while you are trying to find free money for college. The acronym stands for Expected Family Contribution. In other words, you only get all of your college education for free if you have a full-ride scholarship. For the rest of us, the student or family will be expected to pay something.
This number can be estimated. It can also be controlled to some degree if you know how it works. So first, you need to be able to determine what your EFC is and what factors affect it. There are six primary elements in the calculation:
- Household size
- Number of simultaneous college students in the household
- Student income
- Student assets
- Parent income
- Parent assets
Remember that income works differently when it comes to EFC than it does for your taxes. Even untaxed or tax-deferred income should be included in parent and student income. Also, keep in mind that retirement accounts do not count toward your assets, so don’t stop saving for retirement just because you have a few kids to put through school.
Getting Help to Reduce Your Family’s EFC
College Planning Source wants to help your family to fund your educational needs. For example, you can attend our Parents Guide to Financial Aid webinar. You can also get a one-on-one assessment by calling 858.676.0700 or by requesting one online. A personalized assessment over Zoom may be your family’s first step toward improving the experience of your collegebound children.
